JAMES RAY SPRADLEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Spradley appeals the denial of his motion for postconviction relief challenging his guilty plea to probation violation, alleging his counsel misadvised him about gain-time credits. The court affirmed the denial based on procedural defects but allowed Spradley an opportunity to refile with proper procedural compliance.
The trial court's denial of the motion was affirmed because the motion for rehearing was not filed under oath, precluding consideration of newly discovered facts. However, Spradley is permitted to file a properly executed rule 3.850 motion within sixty days based on newly discovered evidence of counsel's misadvice, which shall not be deemed successive.
[1] A defendant may seek postconviction relief to withdraw a guilty plea based on counsel's misrepresentation regarding sentence length or eligibility for gain time.
[2] A motion for postconviction relief must be filed within two years of the judgment and sentence becoming final, unless an exception applies.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Counsel's misrepresentation about the length of sentence or eligibility for gain time can form the basis for postconviction relief in the form of leave to withdraw a guilty plea.”
Establishes the legal standard that misadvice about sentencing consequences can support postconviction relief
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSpradley served fifteen years in prison followed by fifteen years' probation. He violated probation and, pursuant to a plea agreement, pleaded guilty …
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CASANUEVA, Judge.
James Ray Spradley appeals the summary denial of his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. According to Spradley, he served fifteen years in prison followed by fifteen years’ probation. He subsequently violated his probation, and pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to twenty-seven years in prison with credit for time served.
In his motion, Spradley alleged that his counsel misadvised him that, upon sentencing for the violation of probation, he would receive credit for all previously earned gain time when the Department of Corrections (DOC) applied the credit for time served. Spradley sought to withdraw his plea, claiming that had he known that he would not receive the previously earned gain time, he would not have pleaded guilty to violating his probation.
Counsel’s misrepresentation about the length of sentence or eligibility for gain time can form the basis for postcon-vietion relief in the form of leave to withdraw a guilty plea. See Jones v. State, 834 So. 2d 226 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). However, the trial court denied Spradley’s claim because the motion was untimely; Spradley’s judgment and sentence became final in February 2001, and he did not file the motion until April 2003.
Spradley filed a motion for rehearing, alleging that he did not discover that the DOC had forfeited his gain time until July 2001 when the DOC responded to his administrative grievance in which he sought information about the application of his previously earned gain time. Therefore, he claimed he had until July 2003 to file his rule 3.850 motion. The trial court denied the motion for rehearing, finding no legal reason compelling a rehearing.
Spradley could not have known about the DOC’s forfeiture of gain time at the time of sentencing if he had not been advised of the possibility of forfeiture by counsel or the trial court. Spradley did not discover that his gain time had been forfeited until he filed administrative grievances with the DOC. Once the DOC responded and informed him of the forfeiture, Spradley had two years to file a rule 3.850 motion based on this newly discovered information. See Anderson v. State, 862 So. 2d 924 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Graddy v. State, 685 So. 2d 1313, 1314 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). However, Spradley’s motion for rehearing, which alleged these additional facts, was not under oath, and therefore the trial court was not required to consider the motion for rehearing. See Melton v. State, 720 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998).
Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order denying Spradley’s rule 3.850 motion. Our affirmance is without prejudice to Spradley’s right to file a facially sufficient rule 3.850 motion, within sixty days of the date of the mandate in this proceeding, based on newly discovered evidence of counsel’s misadvice. Such motion shall not be deemed successive.
Affirmed.
WHATLEY and WALLACE, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Hall v. State, 891 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…ess, the trial court denied relief because “the defendant fail[ed] to allege that the facts on which his claim is predicated were previously unknown to him and could not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence.” In Spradley v. State, 868 So. 2d 632 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004), this court confronted a strikingly similar situation. Spradley alleged that his counsel misadvised him that he would receive credit for previously earned gain time upon sentencing for a violation of probation. Spradley sought to…
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Heriberto Galindez v. State, 909 So. 2d 597 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)…DOC informed the prisoner of the gain time forfeiture and that the DOC determination of gain time constituted newly discovered information within the meaning of rule 3.850(b)(1). Hall v. State, 891 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004); Spradley v. State, 868 So. 2d 632 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). Galindez’s motion was filed on April 5, 2004, within two years of April 23, 2002, the undisputed date that DOC informed him of his gain time forfeiture. The motion is timely. Accordingly, we reverse the order of the circuit cou…
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Singleton v. State, 981 So. 2d 1259 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)…. State, 976 So. 2d 700, 700-01 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008); Beasley v. State, 958 So. 2d 1086, 1087-88 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Galindez v. State, 909 So. 2d 597, 598 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005); Hall v. State, 891 So. 2d 1066, 1067 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004); Spradley v. State, 868 So. 2d 632, 633 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004); see also Douglas v. State, 977 So. 2d 776, 777-78 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008). We have concluded that such gain time misadvice claims present circumstances that fall within the scope of the time limitation exception under rule 3.850…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Graddy v. State, 685 So. 2d 1313 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
- Anderson v. State, 862 So. 2d 924 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- Jones v. State, 834 So. 2d 226 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
- Melton v. State, 720 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)